Muzaffarpur, July 24, 2013: Bihar Religious Trust Board chairman KishoreKunal said here on Tuesday that the board is ready to build one to twodharmashalas (rest houses) along the 80km-longBaba Garibnathkanwaria circuit from Pahleza to Muzaffarpur provided the government acquires land for this purpose. At present, there is not a single dharmashala on the route although one to two lakh devotees, particularly, kanwarias throng the Garibnath temple every Sunday and Monday during Shravan which began on Tuesday.

Kunal was here on Tuesday to solemnize the "pran pratishtha" of half-a-dozen deities on the first floor of the newly-renovated Baba Garibnath temple. He said that Malangsthan temple committee, only a kilometer ahead of the entrance point of Muzaffarpur town, which also belongs to the religious board, is ready to offer its services for constructing a dharmashala but it has neither the requisite fund nor the land. Another dharmashala might be built anywhere between Sarai and Goraul.

Garibnath temple has got a fund of around Rs 1 crore it has collected in the last one year, Kunal disclosed and said the fund can be spent for the facilities of the kanwarias. But the district administration would have to come forward with the acquired land for constructing dharmashalas.

Garibnath temple committee secretary NK Sinha informed that each dharmashala would require one acre of land. Besides having sufficient halls, rooms and verandahs, the dharmashala would also have toilets and water supply facilities. It would also require enough of space for keeping kanwars as also tea stalls and first aid medical facilities.

Meanwhile, the district administration and temple committee have taken a number of steps to provide basic facilities to the kanwarias during the month-long celebrations. In fact, the actual fair would start on Sunday next when at least one lakh kanwarias would pour sacred Gangajal on Baba Garibnath Shivlingam.

The district administration has ordered the diversion of vehicular traffic of Hajipur and Muzaffarpur route to Lalganj direction during the Shravani festival. It has been stressed that no motor vehicle should be allowed to ply between Hajipur and Muzaffarpur, particularly on Sundays and Mondays.

Road barricading would be done at 11 points between Ramdayalunagar and Garibnath temple to stop movement of traffic on kanwaria route. Sufficient safety measures have been have been adopted with the posting of police force and installing of CCTV at strategic points. The temple committee has also installed a number of CCTV inside the temple to control the mob.

For the first time, every batch of kanwarias would be given token at the entry point of the town to count the number of kanwarias as also to keep a vigil on them. RBTS Government Homeopathic Medical College and RDS College have been opened to the kanwarias for the stay. The campus has been provided extra facilities for water supply and toilets during the month-long festival.

Source: Times of India, July 24, 2013